Reflection for Monday, August 28, 2000: 21st week in Ordinary Time.
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Authors
Schuler, Jeanne
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2000-08-28
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Essay
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en_US
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"The idea of 'substance' in Spinoza is more interesting than most people I know" was a line from a favorite teacher in graduate school. We laughed at the odd contest--lofty thought victorious over enfleshed beings. Contempt for the ordinary is not unknown in philosophy courses, where pure ideas are often granted powers missing from the beggarly lives of persons. Augustine was among those minds who thought differently. "Man is a great deep," he wrote. Nothing holds more interest than the human heart. Except for God, of course, who is revealed in the murky depths of our desires. For Augustine, there is no thought so true as persons and no person so true as God.||But there is something behind my professor's quip. People are trouble. Every relationship offers its own reasons for worry. Compared to ideas, people are a tangle, and figuring out what's best to do often takes more wisdom than the moment allows. Messes pile up daily. Learning to forgive, to do better, to listen, to give thanks never ends, if it even begins. Who dreams of walking away from birds or gardens or music? People we sometimes dream of walking away from.|Love is tough. It rarely resembles the notions that cavort through our fantasy. Love is where we make our big mistakes. Augustine frequented the many corners of love: the pleasure, the dependency, the care, the worry, the warmth, the grief. And yet in the end this was the truth that he came back to: it is for love that we are made. We are here to love.|Alone without God, it would be harder. Scripture assures us that the goodness in our lives exceeds all our efforts. It's not all tally, tally, tally and found wanting. We are loved by one who calls us into existence, one who knows what we'll never do. Cherished in our imperfection, we are given the power to call forth the love of others.
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University Ministry, Creighton University.
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These reflections may not be sold or used commercially without permission. Personal or parish use is permitted.
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Lectionary Number: 425